Actually, a coworker also illustrated that point today. His mother often falls victim to radical spam mail and then forwards it on to her intelligent son, thinking she, herself, is spreading something intelligent. He usually does not respond, but today he did. The e-mail’s title was “Why Jews Are Better Than Muslims”. Ew…

He wrote back, quite nicely… “Hey, Mom, just so you know… there is a small group of Muslims with crazy ideas, and… you know, if something catastrophic happened to them, I wouldn’t shed a tear, but similarly, there are small groups in every religion that are too crazy to understand. It does not mean all Muslims are bad. Every religion has a percentage of decent people who follow it’s simpler designs…” etc… Well said, I think. And to you, too… well said. 🙂

What Indian nation do you come from?

Being raised in the bible belt, and brought up in church, I’ve seen so much hypocrocy and found so many falacies that it made me begin to question my “beliefs”. I soon found that they weren’t really MY beliefs, but what others TOLD me to believe. However (and this is a HUGE point), I’ve also seen many of the good things that “believers” have done. Besides the hypocrits, I’ve known people who stand by their beliifs regardless of the consequences. Being a man of principle, I have to respect that, no matter what the motivation. I can’t fault them for a belief that I don’t agree with, especially when it costs me nothing for them to have their faith. (again, as Jefferson said, “it neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg”).

By the way, I also liked the reference to “the great spirit”. Seems we share a similar heritage, just a different nation.

Thanks for the post, Julie

So by that definition, I must be an idealist, because of the non-idealists, and that makes my idealism in perfect harmony with everything else. …or something like that. 😛

Good point, backspace. Maybe you’re right. I love Buddhist teachings. I love the soft way they make sense out of the nonsensical. Actually, Thich Nhat Hanh is one of my favorite writers, as far as spiritual writing goes. I was turned onto him while working in a topless club in Dallas, Texas. A Sioux Indian on his way to India to study there spent three to four hours talking with me quietly under the blare of music, and before he left he went to his car and brought the book back for me. It’s called The Heart of Understanding It’s very good. I like what you quoted, too. I’ll have to pick up A History of Violence. Also, a friend of mine just finished A People’s History of the United States: 1492-Present by Howard Zinn and had to express how grateful he feels that our world is very different from the world of only, literally, thirty years ago, let alone a hundred and more. 🙂

“Some of the evidence has been under our nose all along. Conventional history has long shown that, in many ways, we have been getting kinder and gentler. Cruelty as entertainment, human sacrifice to indulge superstition, slavery as a labor-saving device, conquest as the mission statement of government, genocide as a means of acquiring real estate, torture and mutilation as routine punishment, the death penalty for misdemeanors and differences of opinion, assassination as the mechanism of political succession, rape as the spoils of war, pogroms as outlets for frustration, homicide as the major form of conflict resolution—all were unexceptionable features of life for most of human history. But, today, they are rare to nonexistent in the West, far less common elsewhere than they used to be, concealed when they do occur, and widely condemned when they are brought to light.” Steven Pinker A History of Violence